José Luís Peixoto was born in Galveias, in 1974. He is one of the most prominent authors of contemporary Portuguese literature. His fictional and poetic work appears in dozens of anthologies, translated into a vast number of languages, and studied in numerous national and international universities.
In 2001, following overwhelming critical and public recognition, the novel Blank Gaze (Nenhum Olhar) was awarded the José Saramago Literary Prize. The Piano Cemetery (Cemitério de Pianos) was awarded the 2007 Cálamo Otra Mirada Prize, for the best foreign novel published in Spain. With Livro, he won the Libro d'Europa prize, awarded in Italy for the best European novel of 2012. In 2016, with Galveias, he received the Oceanos Award in Brazil for the best literary work in the Portuguese language of the previous year. His works have also been finalists for international awards such as Femina (France), Impac Dublin (Ireland) and Portugal Telecom (Brazil), among others.
In the field of poetry, Drawer of Papers (Gaveta de Papéis) received the Daniel Faria Award and A Child in Ruins (A Criança em Ruínas) received the Portuguese Society of Authors (Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores) Award. In 2012, he published Inside the Secret (Dentro do Segredo) - A journey in North Korea, his first foray into travel literature. His novels are translated into over thirty languages.